Gretna Margaret Weste
Born(1917-09-05)5 September 1917
Dumfries, Scotland [1]
Died30 August 2006(2006-08-30) (aged 88)
NationalityAustralian
EducationDoctor of Philosophy (PhD), Doctor of Science (DSc)
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne
AwardsMember of the Order of Australia (AM) (1989), Australasian Plant Pathology Society Medal (1995)
Scientific career
FieldsBotany, Plant Pathology, mycology
InstitutionsUniversity of Melbourne

Gretna Margaret Weste AM (5 September 1917 – 30 August 2006) was a leading scientist noted for her work in plant pathology and mycology, specifically with Phytophthora cinnamomi.[2]

Biography

Gretna Margaret Weste (née Parkin) was born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland in 1917 to Australian parents, Grace and Arthur Parkin.[2] Her father was a volunteer chemist in the local munitions factory, H.M. Factory Gretna,which produced Cordite RDB, colloquially known as the "Devil's Porridge". The family lived at 24 the Ridge, Eastriggs during World War One and a brother Tom was also born during this time.[3]

The family returned to Australia when Gretna was two years old, and she grew up in Surrey Hills, an outer-suburb of Melbourne.[2]

Her schooling was completed through scholarships, first at the Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne where she gained final-year honors at the botany exhibition, and won a government scholarship to the University of Melbourne. At the University of Melbourne, she obtained a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in 1938 and Master of Science (MSc) in 1939 on wood anatomy. She was awarded a PhD in 1969 and a University of Melbourne Doctor of Science (DSc) in 1984 for her published papers.[2] In 1989 she was awarded a Member in the Order of Australia (AM) for "service to science, particularly in the field of botany.[4][5]

Research

Weste was noted for her many contributions to the fields of plant pathology and mycology. For her Masters of Science research, she studied wood anatomy—which proved useful in preserving the huge quantities of dead standing Mountain Ash timber which resulted as a consequence of the Black Friday bushfires of 1939.[2] Her Doctor of Philosophy degree was in agricultural plant pathology, on the root-rotting pathogen of wheat Gaeumannomyces graminis. After this she turned her research attention to Phytophthora cinnamomi, a root pathogen of Australian indigenous plants.[2][6]

The standard author abbreviation Weste is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[7]

Personal life

Gretna Parkin married Geoffe Weste, a forester, in December 1941 and they had three children.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Walker, Rosanne (4 July 2012). "Biographical Entry: Weste, Gretna Margaret (1917-2006)". Encyclopedia of Australian Science. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Weste, Gretna Margaret (1917–2006) in The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia
  3. ↑ By (26 January 2020). "The Australian contribution to HM Factory Gretna". Devils Porridge Museum. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  4. ↑ "Weste, Gretna Margaret (1917–2006)". Obituaries Australia. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  5. ↑ "WESTE, Gretna Margaret". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  6. ↑ "Obituary - Gretna Margaret Weste - Obituaries Australia". oa.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  7. ↑ International Plant Names Index.  Weste.
  8. ↑ Linden Gillbank (2007). Dr Gretna Margaret Weste AM.
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